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| BEING BETTER TOGETHER- When faced with news that their jump needed to come down the Plymouth High School jumpers brought their community together and wound up with not one but TWO new jumps! Above, construction on the K28m trestle. |
CRAIG WARD, Chairman USANS Fundraising Committee
MIddlebury Ski Team XC, USST XC
Aspen, CO
cward@rof.net WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER
Every day in December I watch for the email from Jeff Hastings. He’s the guy who came up with the “idea” of the Story Project. He’s a guy who was lucky enough to grow up in a ski town that had a jump, had parents that encouraged him and sacrificed for him…..and Jeff was skillful enough and dedicated enough to make it all the way through high school, and college, and onto the US Team, and eventually the Olympic Team. And, he’s seen more than one Olympic Flame in the flesh, so to speak. I won’t try to put words into Jeff’s mouth about why he continues to assist US Ski Jumping, and now USA Nordic Sport….but I’ll bet it has something to do with giving back to a very meaningful part of his life.
We all have our stories to tell…..and if you’ve been reading these stories for the past four or five years and have NOT sent in a story, then I encourage you to sit down today and compose something that is poignant, wacky, uplifting, historical or hysterical….something with a little personal meaning in it. I won’t belabor that point, but more on that later.
Earlier this summer, in Plymouth New Hampshire, the school board declared the high school jump, (actually the in-run) a dangerous edifice and that it needed to be torn down. The jumping program would have to fold. You’ve heard a similar story for many years, even decades, across America: A jump was falling into disrepair, that was falling down, and that the dwindling program would die because of lack of interest, a lack of support, and lack of community involvement. Not in Plymouth!! Fast forward to today, just six months later: The town and school have a new and beautiful ski jump, over $50,000 was raised, and a huge community effort with over 100 people volunteering their time and skills resulted in rebuilding not only the in-run, but regrading and improving the entire jump. You can read about it on Facebook, under Save our Ski Jump (click here for ink). If you’re not on Facebook, maybe the story can be told in detail here by those from the Plymouth community. It is a great, uplifting story.
I mention the Plymouth jump story, that of a local community coming together to rebuild what had, and has, a lot of meaning for them, because it has a similar parallel to our national organization, USA Nordic Sport. There are people like Jeff Hastings, or Rex Bell, or Alan Johnson, or Walter Malmquist, or Landis Arnold or Reed Zeulke or Todd Wilson who have put in hundreds, no thousands, of hours, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to keeping our sport of ski jumping alive….and still it is having a very difficult time surviving. We need to rebuild, recommit to and strengthen our national organization, as well as our local programs, so that it will last into the next century.
You are reading this story because ski jumping has in some way, shape or form enhanced your life. We need your help, right now, in the way of a charitable donation, just like the people in Plymouth had to go to their community to raise the necessary funds to rebuild their jump. It took more than volunteer labor and donated materials, it took dollars as well.
This email blast is going out to approximately 980 people nationwide (and we need to raise that number too), and we know that approximately 30% of that number actually read the daily stories. That is 294 people. If we could average $100 dollars per person in donations, that would equate to $29,400. Our organization desperately needs that influx of support right now. Many of you will say, “Craig, I just cannot afford $100 dollars right now.” I understand that, and I’m not asking you to give any more than what you can afford. There are some out there who can afford to contribute more than $100. You know who you are! If we rally together we can do this. We can hit our goal of $30,000.
I hate to ask people for money. However, when I am committed and passionate about the particular cause it makes it palatable. We are ski jumpers and Nordic combiners, and I know that you are passionate and committed about the sport….or else you wouldn’t be reading this true story.
And….I’ll be looking for your personal story, too, right here on the Story Project.
May you have a blessed and peaceful Christmas.
Warmly,
Craig Ward
P.S. You can either send your check to USA Nordic Sport, Box 293757, Park City, UT 84068 or go on-line to the website, and make your donation via credit card here (http://www.usanordic.org/?page_id=213 )
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| IT TOOK A VILLAGE- The finished result- two brand new jumps in Plymouth, NH! |
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